Centre for Policy on Ageing



Terminal care of the very old — changes in the way we die
Author(s)	Katherine A Hesse
Journal title	Archives of Internal Medicine, vol 155, 24 July 1995
Pages	pp 1513-1518
Keywords	Terminal care ; Rights [elderly] ; Wills ; United States of America.
Annotation	The use of advance directives (living wills), limitations of treatment, and medical interventions during terminal hospitalisation of the oldest old are examined. Study periods before and after the implementation of the Patient Self-Determination Act 1990 in the US were chosen, to determine if there has been a change in terminal care. Patients aged 85+ are receiving fewer high-intensity interventions during their terminal hospitalisations. More attention is being paid to comfort, and few are receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). There is little reference to formal advance directives in decision-making for these patients. (OFFPRINT.) (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-020522216 A
Classmark	LV: IKR: VTH: 7T *
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.